Soups are healthy right? Well, not always. Especially when the word cheese is an integral part of the recipe and there’s 2 cups of cheese in the pot. How about we use just a quarter of that cheese, no butter, no cream and no flour and still have one tasty healthy broccoli and cheese soup? I’m all about that!

When I started on Instagram in 2013, there was a huge vegan vibe that I totally embraced! I loved the people I met, loved staring at their colorful healthy photos and loved testing new vegan recipes.

One of the coolest vegan recipes I tried was making vegan cheese using potatoes and carrots. I thought about it and it made sense…the two starchy vegetables blended together would certainly get the color of cheese and possibly the consistency.

It totally worked!! And even though I never became vegan in that time, I was inspired to use that concoction to make traditional cheesy dishes healthier. Enter this healthier broccoli and cheese soup!

How to make broccoli and cheese soup

It’s possibly the easiest soup recipe you’ll ever make. And guess what, it might even be the healthiest soup recipe you’ll ever make with ingredients you probably already have on hand. Ok, I don’t always have broccoli on hand, but certainly onions, potatoes and carrots.

I roasted all the veggies because it gives the cozy, toasty, caramelized notes and it’s easier than stirring it all in a pot. If you prefer to just sauté the onions with the carrots and potatoes, that’s totally fine too. Once you blend everything together and see that cheese-like soup base, you’ll be ready to eat right out of the pot!

I added just half a cup of shredded cheddar cheese because it does add that cheesy flavor and consistency we crave in traditional broccoli and cheese soup. You can also use nutritional yeast, which has that cheesy flavor and is loaded with vitamins.

This soup will feel like a diet detox soup with all the flavors we crave in winter and that cheesy goodness. Hello new favorite soup!!

I hope you love this feel good Broccoli and Cheese Soup recipe. If you make it, please leave me a comment telling me how you like it, or use hashtag #feelgoodfoodie on Instagram so I can see your recreations.

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a large rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Arrange the sliced baby potatoes, sliced carrots and sliced onions on the baking dish, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Roast the potatoes, carrots and onions in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, tossing halfway through

In another small rimmed baking dish lined with parchment paper, add the broccoli, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Roast the broccoli for 10 minutes.

Transfer all the vegetables, except for the broccoli, to a pot and reserve a few roasted vegetables for soup toppings, if desired. Pour the vegetable broth over the roasted vegetables and bring to a boil.

Lower heat to a simmer, and blend using an immersion blender. Blend until it's completely blended and the mixture is yellow in color and cheesy-looking. Add the broccoli and slightly blend some more.

Stir in the cheddar cheese (or nutritional yeast) and serve warm, with the roasted vegetables or croutons, if desired.

Video

Notes

Storage: Store any leftovers in an airtight container. It will last about 4-5 days in the fridge.

Make Ahead: You can roast the vegetables in advance when you have the oven turned on for another recipe. Then when you're ready to cook the soup, you can use the roasted vegetables

Substitutes: For best results, follow the recipe as is. To make the soup vegan, you can use nutritional yeast to give that cheesy flavor, or you can skip the cheese all together.

Equipment: I love using an immersion blender to make this soup. You can also use a traditional blender, like a Vitamix which has a soup setting to puree the soup to the perfect consistency and actually warm it up in the process.

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From the Foodie

I'm Yumna. I literally learned to cook 2 weeks after I got married over the phone with my mom. When I was brave enough to fly solo, I started treading on trendy foodie territory and built an Instagram page with over 2 MILLION followers. Now I have hundreds of real good food recipes that will make you and your family feel oh-so good!